NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this natural-color portrait on July 19, 2013, which is the first image to show Saturn, its moons and rings, plus Earth, Venus and Mars, all together.
(You can see a zoomable version in the story below.)

Image 1 of 11 - NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this natural-color portrait on July 19, 2013, which is the first image to show Saturn, its moons and rings, plus Earth, Venus and Mars, all together.
(You can see a zoomable version in the story below.)

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this natural-color portrait on July...19, 2013, which is the first image to show Saturn, its moons and...rings, plus Earth, Venus and Mars, all together.
(You can see a...zoomable version in the story below.)

Image 2 of 11|NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

With some labels: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this natural-color portrait on July 19, 2013, which is the first image to show Saturn, its moons and rings, plus Earth, Venus and Mars, all together.
(You can see a zoomable version in the story below.)

Image 2 of 11 - NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

With some labels: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this natural-color portrait on July 19, 2013, which is the first image to show Saturn, its moons and rings, plus Earth, Venus and Mars, all together.
(You can see a zoomable version in the story below.)

With some labels: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this natural-color...portrait on July 19, 2013, which is the first image to show Saturn,...its moons and rings, plus Earth, Venus and Mars, all together.
(You...can see a zoomable version in the story below.)

Image 3 of 11|NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

With more labels: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this natural-color portrait on July 19, 2013, which is the first image to show Saturn, its moons and rings, plus Earth, Venus and Mars, all together.
(You can see a zoomable version in the story below.)

Image 3 of 11 - NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

With more labels: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this natural-color portrait on July 19, 2013, which is the first image to show Saturn, its moons and rings, plus Earth, Venus and Mars, all together.
(You can see a zoomable version in the story below.)

With more labels: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took this natural-color...portrait on July 19, 2013, which is the first image to show Saturn,...its moons and rings, plus Earth, Venus and Mars, all together.
(You...can see a zoomable version in the story below.)

Image 4 of 11|NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

NASA/JPL-Caltech

This is the Earth:
North America and part of the Atlantic Ocean are expected to be illuminated when NASA's Cassini spacecraft takes a snapshot of Earth on July 19, 2013. This view is a close-up simulation.

Image 4 of 11 - NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

This is the Earth:
North America and part of the Atlantic Ocean are expected to be illuminated when NASA's Cassini spacecraft takes a snapshot of Earth on July 19, 2013. This view is a close-up simulation.

This is the Earth:
North America and part of the Atlantic Ocean are...expected to be illuminated when NASA's Cassini spacecraft takes a...snapshot of Earth on July 19, 2013. This view is a close-up...simulation.

Image 5 of 11|NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

NASA

This is the Earth from an earlier photo from Saturn:
In this rare image taken on July 19, 2013, the wide-angle camera on NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured Saturn's rings and our planet Earth and its moon in the same frame. It is only one footprint in a mosaic of 33 footprints covering the entire Saturn ring system (including Saturn itself).
At each footprint, images were taken in different spectral filters for a total of 323 images: some were taken for scientific purposes and some to produce a natural color mosaic. This is the only wide-angle footprint that has the Earth-moon system in it. The dark side of Saturn, its bright limb, the main rings, the F ring, and the G and E rings are clearly seen; the limb of Saturn and the F ring are overexposed.
The "breaks" in the brightness of Saturn's limb are due to the shadows of the rings on the globe of Saturn, preventing sunlight from shining through the atmosphere in those regions. The E and G rings have been brightened for better visibility. Earth, which is 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in this image, appears as a blue dot at center right; the moon can be seen as a fainter protrusion off its right side.
An arrow indicates their location in the annotated version. (The two are clearly seen as separate objects in the accompanying narrow angle frame: PIA14949.) The other bright dots nearby are stars. This is only the third time ever that Earth has been imaged from the outer solar system.

Image 5 of 11 - NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

This is the Earth from an earlier photo from Saturn:
In this rare image taken on July 19, 2013, the wide-angle camera on NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured Saturn's rings and our planet Earth and its moon in the same frame. It is only one footprint in a mosaic of 33 footprints covering the entire Saturn ring system (including Saturn itself).
At each footprint, images were taken in different spectral filters for a total of 323 images: some were taken for scientific purposes and some to produce a natural color mosaic. This is the only wide-angle footprint that has the Earth-moon system in it. The dark side of Saturn, its bright limb, the main rings, the F ring, and the G and E rings are clearly seen; the limb of Saturn and the F ring are overexposed.
The "breaks" in the brightness of Saturn's limb are due to the shadows of the rings on the globe of Saturn, preventing sunlight from shining through the atmosphere in those regions. The E and G rings have been brightened for better visibility. Earth, which is 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in this image, appears as a blue dot at center right; the moon can be seen as a fainter protrusion off its right side.
An arrow indicates their location in the annotated version. (The two are clearly seen as separate objects in the accompanying narrow angle frame: PIA14949.) The other bright dots nearby are stars. This is only the third time ever that Earth has been imaged from the outer solar system.

This is the Earth from an earlier photo from Saturn:
In this rare...image taken on July 19, 2013, the wide-angle camera on NASA's Cassini...spacecraft has captured Saturn's rings and our planet Earth and its...moon in the same frame. It is only one footprint in a mosaic of 33...footprints covering the entire Saturn ring system (including Saturn...itself).
At each footprint, images were taken in different...spectral filters for a total of 323 images: some were taken for...scientific purposes and some to produce a natural color mosaic. This...is the only wide-angle footprint that has the Earth-moon system in it....The dark side of Saturn, its bright limb, the main rings, the F ring,...and the G and E rings are clearly seen; the limb of Saturn and the F...ring are overexposed.
The "breaks" in the brightness of Saturn's...limb are due to the shadows of the rings on the globe of Saturn,...preventing sunlight from shining through the atmosphere in those...regions. The E and G rings have been brightened for better visibility....Earth, which is 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in...this image, appears as a blue dot at center right; the moon can be...seen as a fainter protrusion off its right side.
An arrow...indicates their location in the annotated version. (The two are...clearly seen as separate objects in the accompanying narrow angle...frame: PIA14949.) The other bright dots nearby are stars. This is only...the third time ever that Earth has been imaged from the outer solar...system.

Image 6 of 11|NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

NASA

These images show views of Earth and the moon from NASA's Cassini (left) and MESSENGER spacecraft (right) from July 19, 2013. In the Cassini image, the wide-angle camera has captured Saturn's rings and our planet Earth and its moon in the same frame. Earth, which is 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in this image, appears as a blue dot at center right; the moon can be seen as a fainter protrusion off its right side.
An arrow indicates their location in the annotated version. (More information about this image can be found at PIA17171). The other bright dots nearby are stars.
In the MESSENGER image, Earth and the moon appear as a pair of bright star-like features. MESSENGER was at a distance of 61 million miles (98 million kilometers) from Earth when it took this image with the wide-angle camera of the Mercury Dual Imaging System.

Image 6 of 11 - NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

These images show views of Earth and the moon from NASA's Cassini (left) and MESSENGER spacecraft (right) from July 19, 2013. In the Cassini image, the wide-angle camera has captured Saturn's rings and our planet Earth and its moon in the same frame. Earth, which is 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in this image, appears as a blue dot at center right; the moon can be seen as a fainter protrusion off its right side.
An arrow indicates their location in the annotated version. (More information about this image can be found at PIA17171). The other bright dots nearby are stars.
In the MESSENGER image, Earth and the moon appear as a pair of bright star-like features. MESSENGER was at a distance of 61 million miles (98 million kilometers) from Earth when it took this image with the wide-angle camera of the Mercury Dual Imaging System.

These images show views of Earth and the moon from NASA's Cassini...(left) and MESSENGER spacecraft (right) from July 19, 2013. In the...Cassini image, the wide-angle camera has captured Saturn's rings and...our planet Earth and its moon in the same frame. Earth, which is 898...million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in this image, appears as...a blue dot at center right; the moon can be seen as a fainter...protrusion off its right side.
An arrow indicates their location...in the annotated version. (More information about this image can be...found at PIA17171). The other bright dots nearby are stars.
In the...MESSENGER image, Earth and the moon appear as a pair of bright...star-like features. MESSENGER was at a distance of 61 million miles...(98 million kilometers) from Earth when it took this image with the...wide-angle camera of the Mercury Dual Imaging System.

Image 7 of 11|NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

NASA

These images show views of Earth and the moon from NASA's Cassini (left) and MESSENGER spacecraft (right) from July 19, 2013.
In the Cassini image, the wide-angle camera has captured Saturn's rings and our planet Earth and its moon in the same frame. Earth, which is 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in this image, appears as a blue dot at center right; the moon can be seen as a fainter protrusion off its right side. An arrow indicates their location in the annotated version. (More information about this image can be found at PIA17171). The other bright dots nearby are stars.
In the MESSENGER image, Earth and the moon appear as a pair of bright star-like features. MESSENGER was at a distance of 61 million miles (98 million kilometers) from Earth when it took this image with the wide-angle camera of the Mercury Dual Imaging System.

Image 7 of 11 - NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

These images show views of Earth and the moon from NASA's Cassini (left) and MESSENGER spacecraft (right) from July 19, 2013.
In the Cassini image, the wide-angle camera has captured Saturn's rings and our planet Earth and its moon in the same frame. Earth, which is 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in this image, appears as a blue dot at center right; the moon can be seen as a fainter protrusion off its right side. An arrow indicates their location in the annotated version. (More information about this image can be found at PIA17171). The other bright dots nearby are stars.
In the MESSENGER image, Earth and the moon appear as a pair of bright star-like features. MESSENGER was at a distance of 61 million miles (98 million kilometers) from Earth when it took this image with the wide-angle camera of the Mercury Dual Imaging System.

These images show views of Earth and the moon from NASA's Cassini...(left) and MESSENGER spacecraft (right) from July 19, 2013.
In the...Cassini image, the wide-angle camera has captured Saturn's rings and...our planet Earth and its moon in the same frame. Earth, which is 898...million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in this image, appears as...a blue dot at center right; the moon can be seen as a fainter...protrusion off its right side. An arrow indicates their location in...the annotated version. (More information about this image can be found...at PIA17171). The other bright dots nearby are stars.
In the...MESSENGER image, Earth and the moon appear as a pair of bright...star-like features. MESSENGER was at a distance of 61 million miles...(98 million kilometers) from Earth when it took this image with the...wide-angle camera of the Mercury Dual Imaging System.

Image 8 of 11|NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

NASA

This image was taken on July 19, 2013 and received on Earth July 20, 2013. The camera was pointing toward EARTH at approximately 898,410,414 miles (1,445,851,410 kilometers) away, and the image was taken using the BL1 and CL2 filters.

Image 8 of 11 - NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

This image was taken on July 19, 2013 and received on Earth July 20, 2013. The camera was pointing toward EARTH at approximately 898,410,414 miles (1,445,851,410 kilometers) away, and the image was taken using the BL1 and CL2 filters.

This image was taken on July 19, 2013 and received on Earth July 20,...2013. The camera was pointing toward EARTH at approximately...898,410,414 miles (1,445,851,410 kilometers) away, and the image was...taken using the BL1 and CL2 filters.

Image 9 of 11|NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

The cameras on NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this rare look at Earth and its moon from Saturn orbit on July 19, 2013. Taken while performing a large wide-angle mosaic of the entire Saturn ring system, narrow-angle camera images were deliberately inserted into the sequence in order to image Earth and its moon. This is the second time that Cassini has imaged Earth from within Saturn's shadow, and only the third time ever that our planet has been imaged from the outer solar system. Earth is the blue point of light on the left; the moon is fainter, white, and on the right. Both are seen here through the faint, diffuse E ring of Saturn. Earth was brighter than the estimated brightness used to calculate the narrow-angle camera exposure times. Hence, information derived from the wide-angle camera images was used to process this color composite.

Image 9 of 11 - NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

The cameras on NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this rare look at Earth and its moon from Saturn orbit on July 19, 2013. Taken while performing a large wide-angle mosaic of the entire Saturn ring system, narrow-angle camera images were deliberately inserted into the sequence in order to image Earth and its moon. This is the second time that Cassini has imaged Earth from within Saturn's shadow, and only the third time ever that our planet has been imaged from the outer solar system. Earth is the blue point of light on the left; the moon is fainter, white, and on the right. Both are seen here through the faint, diffuse E ring of Saturn. Earth was brighter than the estimated brightness used to calculate the narrow-angle camera exposure times. Hence, information derived from the wide-angle camera images was used to process this color composite.

The cameras on NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this rare look at...Earth and its moon from Saturn orbit on July 19, 2013. Taken while...performing a large wide-angle mosaic of the entire Saturn ring system,...narrow-angle camera images were deliberately inserted into the...sequence in order to image Earth and its moon. This is the second time...that Cassini has imaged Earth from within Saturn's shadow, and only...the third time ever that our planet has been imaged from the outer...solar system. Earth is the blue point of light on the left; the moon...is fainter, white, and on the right. Both are seen here through the...faint, diffuse E ring of Saturn. Earth was brighter than the estimated...brightness used to calculate the narrow-angle camera exposure times....Hence, information derived from the wide-angle camera images was used...to process this color composite.

Image 10 of 11|NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

NASA

The cameras on NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this rare look at Earth and its moon from Saturn orbit on July 19, 2013. The image has been magnified five times. Taken while performing a large wide-angle mosaic of the entire Saturn ring system, narrow-angle camera images were deliberately inserted into the sequence in order to image Earth and its moon. This is the second time that Cassini has imaged Earth from within Saturn's shadow, and only the third time ever that our planet has been imaged from the outer solar system.

Image 10 of 11 - NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

The cameras on NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this rare look at Earth and its moon from Saturn orbit on July 19, 2013. The image has been magnified five times. Taken while performing a large wide-angle mosaic of the entire Saturn ring system, narrow-angle camera images were deliberately inserted into the sequence in order to image Earth and its moon. This is the second time that Cassini has imaged Earth from within Saturn's shadow, and only the third time ever that our planet has been imaged from the outer solar system.

The cameras on NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this rare look at...Earth and its moon from Saturn orbit on July 19, 2013. The image has...been magnified five times. Taken while performing a large wide-angle...mosaic of the entire Saturn ring system, narrow-angle camera images...were deliberately inserted into the sequence in order to image Earth...and its moon. This is the second time that Cassini has imaged Earth...from within Saturn's shadow, and only the third time ever that our...planet has been imaged from the outer solar system.

Image 11 of 11|NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

Prometheus is caught in the act of creating gores and streamers in the F ring. Scientists believe that Prometheus and its partner-moon Pandora are responsible for much of the structure in the F ring.
The orbit of Prometheus (53 miles, or 86 kilometers across) regularly brings it into the F ring. When this happens, it creates gores, or channels, in the ring where it entered. Prometheus then draws ring material with it as it exits the ring, leaving streamers in its wake.

(Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)

Image 11 of 11 - NASA photos of Saturn (Earth insignificant)

Prometheus is caught in the act of creating gores and streamers in the F ring. Scientists believe that Prometheus and its partner-moon Pandora are responsible for much of the structure in the F ring.
The orbit of Prometheus (53 miles, or 86 kilometers across) regularly brings it into the F ring. When this happens, it creates gores, or channels, in the ring where it entered. Prometheus then draws ring material with it as it exits the ring, leaving streamers in its wake.

(Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)

Prometheus is caught in the act of creating gores and streamers in...the F ring. Scientists believe that Prometheus and its partner-moon...Pandora are responsible for much of the structure in the F ring.
The...orbit of Prometheus (53 miles, or 86 kilometers across) regularly...brings it into the F ring. When this happens, it creates gores, or...channels, in the ring where it entered. Prometheus then draws ring...material with it as it exits the ring, leaving streamers in its wake. ...

We’re sure this isn’t NASA meant, but seeing the Earth as a tiny speck of light in all that darkness … well, it’s hard not to think us a rather insignificant part of it all. Meanwhile in Warsaw, the world’s scientists and policy makers are trying to figure out how we can not kill ourselves off with climate change.

But hey! It’s an amazing photo of Saturn and it’s equally amazing that we sent a machine that far into space that can take the photo and send it back.

Here’s the technical stuff from NASA:

NASA has released a natural color image of Saturn from space, the first in which Saturn, its moons and rings, and Earth, Venus and Mars, all are visible.

The new panoramic mosaic of the majestic Saturn system taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which shows the view as it would be seen by human eyes, was unveiled at the Newseum in Washington on Tuesday.

Cassini’s imaging team processed 141 wide-angle images to create the panorama. The image sweeps 404,880 miles (651,591 kilometers) across Saturn and its inner ring system, including all of Saturn’s rings out to the E ring, which is Saturn’s second outermost ring. For perspective, the distance between Earth and our moon would fit comfortably inside the span of the E ring.

“In this one magnificent view, Cassini has delivered to us a universe of marvels,” said Carolyn Porco, Cassini’s imaging team lead at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. “And it did so on a day people all over the world, in unison, smiled in celebration at the sheer joy of being alive on a pale blue dot.”

The mosaic is part of Cassini’s “Wave at Saturn” campaign, where on July 19, people for the first time had advance notice a spacecraft was taking their picture from planetary distances. NASA invited the public to celebrate by finding Saturn in their part of the sky, waving at the ringed planet and sharing pictures over the Internet.

An annotated version of the Saturn system mosaic labels points of interest. Earth is a bright blue dot to the lower right of Saturn. Venus is a bright dot to Saturn’s upper left. Mars also appears, as a faint red dot, above and to the left of Venus. Seven Saturnian moons are visible, including Enceladus on the left side of the image. Zooming in to the image reveals the moon and the icy plume emanating from its south pole, supplying fine, powder-sized icy particles that make up the E ring.

The E ring shines like a halo around Saturn and the inner rings. Because it is so tenuous, it is best seen with light shining from behind it, when the tiny particles are outlined with light because of the phenomenon of diffraction. Scientists who focus on Saturn’s rings look for patterns in optical bonanzas like these. They use computers to increase dramatically the contrast of the images and change the color balance, for example, to see evidence for material tracing out the full orbits of the tiny moons Anthe and Methone for the first time.

“This mosaic provides a remarkable amount of high-quality data on Saturn’s diffuse rings, revealing all sorts of intriguing structures we are currently trying to understand,” said Matt Hedman, a Cassini participating scientist at the University of Idaho in Moscow. “The E ring in particular shows patterns that likely reflect disturbances from such diverse sources as sunlight and Enceladus’ gravity.”

Cassini does not attempt many images of Earth because the sun is so close to our planet that an unobstructed view would damage the spacecraft’s sensitive detectors. Cassini team members looked for an opportunity when the sun would slip behind Saturn from Cassini’s point of view. A good opportunity came on July 19, when Cassini was able to capture a picture of Earth and its moon, and this multi-image backlit panorama of the Saturn system.

“With a long, intricate dance around the Saturn system, Cassini aims to study the Saturn system from as many angles as possible,” said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. “Beyond showing us the beauty of the Ringed Planet, data like these also improve our understanding of the history of the faint rings around Saturn and the way disks around planets form — clues to how our own solar system formed around the sun.”

Launched in 1997, Cassini has explored the Saturn system for more than nine years. NASA plans to continue the mission through 2017, with the anticipation of many more images of Saturn, its rings and moons, as well as other scientific data.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.